My house is 100+ years old, with wood frame construction. I just noticed that in a second floor room an antique picture hanging on the wall had moisture beads inside the glass and that some of the paper of the picture was also wet. The moisture was where the back of the picture rests against the wall. On the back of the picture the paper was very wet there, and even beginning to show some signs of mold.
The entire second floor has had the old lath and plaster removed and replaced with fiberglass insulation, vapor barrier and drywall. Inside the wall behind the picture is where the chimney goes up through the roof from the basement furnace. There is also some space beside the chimney where we put in some duct-work to take heat to the upstairs, but never finished the project, so there is an open duct from the basement to the attic.
I also recently found some moisture and mold starting to form on my roof rafters near the chimney. Could this be related to the moisture in the picture? I know that the moisture in the attic is a serious problem, but I can’t get my husband to believe me about that. I’m thinking that the open duct from the basement is probably the biggest problem, but could there be other culprits? Improper use of insulation or vapor barrier or lack of either?

Topics: construction, remodeling, insulation, old houses, moisture problems, retrofitting, roof problems